Crazy Little Thing Called Life

I feel as though I have been neglecting my duties as an author. I haven't gotten any writing done in some time. I still have to finish the last few chapters of Adventures of Bear B & Stone. I have a novel started that doesn't seem to be going anywhere fast, and I actually have some ideas for a novella floating around inside my head. With all these projects in my head, you would think I would at least be writing something down. Not the case. Instead, I am living this crazy little thing called life.

Clark and I are both back in school. We are working on business degrees. These will help with the production and selling of the books. They will also help us to open our own shop, which is something we are considering doing. Today, I am supposed to be working on my Principles of Business course, which I take online. Instead, I am having a hard time focusing because I am feeling guilty about my neglecting all of you. I feel horrible that I wanted to finish Adventures before Christmas and yet here I am in the midst of February, and still it is incomplete. I know that I made the mistake in predicting how long it would take for me to complete this newest project. I thought that it would flow as easily as it was living in my head. This has not been the case.

I also feel bad about the simple fact that I have not been blogging, Facebook posting, Tweeting, or pretty much anything else related to the books. It took me a month and a half to set up a giveaway that was supposed to start with the new year.

Our 15 year old son spent January taking driver's training (which now costs almost $300 I might add). He completed the course and earned his certificate last Tuesday. Wednesday we went to the Secretary of State to pick up his learner's license. He is also preparing to start college next year. It's a great program. The students agree to delay their graduation by one year. Junior year, they begin splitting their academic program between the high school and the community college. Senior year they spend more time at the college than the high school. Their "second senior year" is spent entirely in college classes. When their classmates graduate, they still walk across the stage and receive an acknowledgement certificate. They participate in all the Senior's activities. Then, when they complete their "second senior year" they are given both their High School Diploma and either an Associates Degree in their chosen field or help to transfer to a 4 year (Bachelors or Masters) Degree program at a University of their choosing.

Our daughter (who turns 7 at the end of this week) has been having a lot of problems at school. We have been spending our out of class time in meetings and appointments, all in an attempt to help her. She has been diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Something as simple as forgetting her library book on library day can be devastating to her. We are now learning new ways to parent her and help her to learn better coping skills. Some of you may recall that our son is on the Autism scale. He has Asperger's. Having 2 special needs kids is definitely a lot to handle.

So, now you are wondering why I am telling you all of this. The truth is, I need to explain myself. My lack of production is gnawing at me. I feel guilt ridden, which is only making it harder to work on what I need to work on. I have some stories finished, that Clark needs to work on illustrations for. We both are just having a hard time putting aside time to work with everything else in our lives. We are hopeful that when the school year ends, we will find some time to breathe. In breathing, we are hoping to find ourselves back to work. Please continue to have patience with us and know that we are still plotting and planning. We just aren't producing at this time. We don't want to give you something half rate because we weren't able to give it 150%.

We love our loyal readers and look forward to supplying you with many more opportunities to enjoy our work. In the meantime, we do have our giveaway going on. Read the previous blog post Enter to Win for details and to enter for your opportunity to win. Good luck!